Mccombs School Of Business Video Essay

Hey all McCombs applicants!

Admissionado back once again with fresh, farm to table essay analyses for McCombs's 2017 application! We wanted to jump in and give you a head-start on those essay questions so you can spend less time staring at a blinking cursor and more time deciding between all those MBA offer letters! Soooooo, without further ado:

Texas McCombs School of Business MBA Essay 1

Introduce yourself. Select only one communication method that you would like to use for your response.

Select only one communication method that you would like to use for your response.

Write an essay (250 words) Share a video introduction (one minute)

Analysis

Introductions can take place in a variety of ways. Standing in a circle of a few at a cocktail party. In a one-on-one interview. First day on the job.

The version we’re after here is much different. McCombs just handed you a mic, dimmed the house lights, and threw a spotlight onto you. This is your time not just to introduce yourself, but to perform. A performance is artful. And requires a special type of messaging. Your challenge isn’t to hold the attention of the guy sitting across the desk who is usually forced to tune in. Your challenge is to capture and sustain the attention of a room full of people, whose magnitude (by itself) tends to make it an uphill battle from minute one.Golden Rule:

Whether it’s an essay or a video, the very first thing you need to do is grab your audience’s attention. There’s no real room for a slow burn here. If this were a two hour movie, and you had a proven track record, maybe an audience would spot you an unceremonious beginning, trusting in a future payoff. You have no such luxury here, my friend. Your cohort doesn’t know you. You need to be spectacular and attention-worthy from second 1.

What makes for a good opener? Well, practically speaking, “it” can be absolutely anything, which is to say it can take the FORM of just about anything. But what most great opening moments have in common is this: they knock the reader/audience off balance. For most of you, that may sound great, but it still may not mean much. “How the hell am I supposed to throw the reader off balance?” Well, one way to think about it is to leave some stuff OUT. The more buttoned up your opening is, the more likely your audience will feel secure. And secure—for now—is lethal. Bad.

“My name is Craig Blodgitsnick. I am 27 years old. And I’m a banker.” Great. Super clear. And therefore… too clear? It’s all buttoned up. The audience needs a reason to hear more. With an opening like that, however, we’re left with no such desire. Here’s an alternative.

“I make people cry for a living.”

Um, say what? What the hell does that mean. Did he just say that? I have no idea who this guy is, I have no idea how I feel about him, I have no sense of whether that’s a good or bad thing. What I do know… is that I’m dying to hear more. Success. This speaker has the audience in the palms of his hands.

“Pond. Cigarette. Abandoned BMW. These three things almost got me arrested, led me to my future wife, and ultimately set me on a path of world domination.”

Huh? I mean, I couldn’t be more in. Who the hell says that? How on Earth are those three things connected? After everyone gives their boring standard speech, I can bet you money I’m gonna remember the person who said THAT.

Throw your reader off balance. Give them a reason to want to read more. Now, not to scare you, but this isn’t easy. It is a touch risky, and it requires some finesse. But it is absolutely worth working toward. But just for a moment, let’s talk about the downside…

If you can’t quite pull it off, and it seems forced and inauthentic, then you run the risk of seeming like you’re trying too hard. And that’s a liability. So, get a gut check from a second set of eyes (doesn’t have to be a pro, could be anyone—see if they buy it). If it’s just not passing muster, there is recourse. Which is to tell a very honest, earnest story. Your story, a personal story. But, it’s gotta be a cool story. If it’s a straightforward, you are toast. There’s gotta be some GRIT in there, some adversity, some uniqueness. That can be equally compelling.

“Hi, my name is Glenda Crevitz and I became an adult when I was five years old when I was separated from my parents and grandparents. My first job was…”

Yah, I’d listen to that person. (But did you notice how even here, the author has thrown the audience off balance? This is not happenstance.)

Whichever medium suits you best, take advantage of it. Don’t choose the video if all you do is read an essay. If you use video, it has to be because there’s something about your look and body language and visible energy that communicates something a written essay can’t quite capture. If you choose an essay over video, it’s gotta be because there are certain things you’re able to do with the written word that would be MORE effective than a video version.

Keep your audience on the edge of their seat, though, by throwing them off balance.

Texas McCombs School of Business MBA Essay 2

Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your two years as a Texas MBA student, and how that experience helped to prepare you for the post-MBA world. (500 words)

Analysis

Start thinking about this essay with a very specific (and crucial) premise: “I am not able to achieve or even pursue my short-term goals effectively today because…” Because what? Generate a list. Are they skills? Is it a lack of certain experience? Is it a lack of plain, hard knowledge? Is it a lack of network? Got that list ready? Proceed…

Let’s play pretend one more time. Let’s say you’re like most MBA applicants and are applying to 7-10 programs. Pretend that three of those are ranked in the Top 10, and that 3-5 of those are ranked below #20. UT Austin is right smack dab in the center of it all. Admit-time rolls around and you receive invites from 100% of the schools on your list. Now YOU are in the driver’s seat. What is it about two years at McCombs that might address the items on your list in a particularly appealing way? This is the part where you need to dig deep. (Mind you, we haven’t done a THING toward writing a response to this essay yet; this is all crucial prep work.) What extracurricular offerings does McCombs have? What is it about the campus culture? What is it about certain professors? What about folks who recruit there? What is it about Austin? What is it about…. anything and everything you have researched and know about this program that has convinced you that MCCOMBS IS THE ONE to advance your objectives powerfully? This is the part where you make a second list. And even better, a second list that’s connected to all the specific items on that first list. Once you have these elements secure in your mind, now you’re ready to generate a draft because the essay has already – by now – written itself.

This essay should read a lot like a military battle plan. (You’ll hear us say that a lot, and there’s good reason for it.) This should NOT come across wide-eyed and dreamy and speculative and wishy-washy and general. It should instead feel like the result of someone with laser focus, with ultra-clear objectives, a well-thought-out plan of attack. Bonus points if there’s dried-up drool on this sheet of paper. McCombs wants feral beasts who are salivating at the opportunity to ATTACK the program, and EXTRACT. And that only happens when people have real INTENT. “Motive.” A battle plan. This is your chance to lay out that plan.

How To Organize This Essay

Part 1 – Establish the Goals

First up, we need to understand your goals, your existing skill set, and therefore, those GAPS. Best thing to do is start off with a VERY brief overview of where this WHOLE thing is headed, your overall vision. Within a sentence or two or three, we should have a decent sense for where you hope to be in twenty years. Now, walk us through what you need to do in the VERY near-term (first five years after your MBA, say), in order to get you on that overall/LT path. Remember, think militaristic. Step A leads logically to Step B which then leads to Step C, which then enables us to consider and pursue Step D. That kind of thing. Explain the stuff you need to do, and the skills required to pull that all off. (100-125 words)

Part 2 – Explain Your GAPS

First explain BRIEFLY some of the “thus-far” achievements that have brought you to 80% of the way there. Give us a sense for the stuff you already HAVE, skills-wise. Be efficient here. Now explain the stuff you need. This is that GAP section. From that first list you generated. Don’t just explain these gaps in a vacuum, explain each one within the context of why they’re relevant specifically to your goals. This context is absolutely key, because now you’re not just generic-MBA-person, you’re salivating-feral-beast-person with lusting after PREY, locked in your sights. I needed “X in order to then pursue Y aspect of my short-term goals for Z reason.” That kind of thing. (125-150 words)

Part 3 – How You Took a Bite Out of McCombs, Specifically

This is the part where you catalogue your experience at McCombs (as though in retrospect, as though it actually happened, etc.). Take us through experiences with specific classes, professors, clubs, off-campus activities, internships, socialization opportunities, anything and everything you can think of that might advance you from your 80% starting point on Day 1 to the 100% version at graduation. Explain what you did to narrow that 20% gap, bit by bit.

The key isn’t to actually write your future accurately, no one’s gonna ever check. The key is to indicate that there’s CLARITY in the way you can establish an objective, and then design a plan of attack to achieve it. Generally that comes from a plan that is detailed, and rooted in logic. As long as it makes sense, and seems achievable, the admissions committee is going to buy it. Now, if you can do that, and also let slip your passion for the program, bonus points. (200 words)

Part 4 – Next Steps

The best way to send this sucker home is to give a brief description of what happens immediately after graduation. No need to spend too much time here because you’ve already laid SOME of this out in previous sections when establishing your short-term goals. You may just want to close with a hypothetical “I will be starting as an X at Y company this fall, where I will notch Step 1 toward my short-term goals.” You can even have fun with what you plan to do in the few weeks between graduation and when you start your job, or some other character-revealing fun reveal, like marrying one of your b-school cohorts named Z that you met along the way, yadayada. (50-75 words)

Texas McCombs School of Business MBA Optional Essay

Please provide any additional information you believe is important and/or address any areas of concern that will be beneficial to the Admissions Committee in considering your application (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, or extenuating personal circumstances). (250 words)

Analysis

Read our team’s complete take on the idea of optional essay, including a brief (recent) history of b-schools’ relationship with it, and how our recommendations have evolved over the years, right here.

And that's that. Helpful, eh? If you have any questions on it or McCombs or anything, just reply here or shoot us a PM. And if you want more Essay Analysis Goodness, check out more schools here. We're updating 'em daily as new prompts are released, so keep checking back._________________

Jon FrankFounder, Admissionado

Admissionado | Packages | Success Stories | Team

If you like the post, give it a KUDOS!

Last edited by JonAdmissionado on 17 Aug 2017, 22:09, edited 2 times in total.

The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas is a globally recognized MBA program, located in the center of technology- Austin.

Like last year, McCombs business school asks its applicants to write two required essays and one optional essay. The first essay remains unchanged from last year, but the second essay has been changed.

Essay 1: The University of Texas at Austin values unique perspectives and cultivates a collaborative environment of distinct individual contributions. It is the first day of orientation. You are meeting your study group, comprised of five of your classmates from various backgrounds. Please introduce yourself to your new team, highlighting what drives you in your personal and professional life.

Select only one communication method that you would like to use for your response.

o Write an essay (250 words)o Share a video introduction (one minute)

This is the fifth year running that McCombs requires the applicants to write an essay on introduction to their class mates. McCombs allows them to delve on their personal as well as professional attributes in 250 words. This essay, in terms of the topic and the medium of communication, provides applicants with a flexibility and freedom to showcase their creative side. You may take time to brainstorm ideas about what you would like your team mates at McCombs to know about you. Considering this is your first encounter with them, you can discuss your cultural background, motivation, personal and professional goals/accomplishments, hobbies/interests, and issues that pique your interest. The motive is to tell you future class mates who you really are.

To showcase your creativity, McCombs offers you a choice of two modes of communication. You may pick the format that works best for you. If you are an introvert, or if you love to write, you may select the ‘essay mode’ for sure. If you are an extrovert, you may find the video mode more exciting. A video essay allows applicants to be more creative as well as imaginative. For example, if you plan to share your culinary skills with your class mates, you may consider shooting part of the one minute video in your kitchen.Though it’s fun doing a video essay, it is my understanding that it would demand more time than a regular essay (This by no means implies that crafting an ‘introduction’ essay in 250 words is not challenging). You may experiment with the video option if you can invest significant amount of time to make sure that you grab the attention of your audience not only through your words, but also through your body language and facial expressions. And remember your challenge is to say it all in a one minute video. Also, if you are camera shy and don’t feel comfortable before the camera, then video option may not be a good option. Whichever medium you choose, dedicate the work necessary to ensure that your introduction is engaging and presents you as a likeable, friendly, and well-rounded individual to your cohorts.

Essay 2: Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your two years as a Texas MBA student, and how that experience helped to prepare you for the post-MBA world. (500 words)

This second required question has been changed this year. Last year’s applicants were asked to write about what drove them in their personal and professional life, how Texas MBA is the ideal program for them and how they planned to engage in McCombs community. The key was to demonstrate their ‘fit ‘with the school. This year’s applicants will also be highlighting their ‘fit’ with the school, but in a different way. They will visualize themselves at their graduation day and explain how two years at the Texas MBA helped prepare them for their post MBA personal and professional goals.

To prepare yourself, you must do your homework of researching the program well. Explain how various resources/ offerings and activities at McCombs (courses, study groups, clubs etc.) brought you closer to your post MBA goals. In addition to explaining how Texas MBA helped you fulfill your professional goals, you should also discuss how participation in various activities of student organizations and clubs at McCombs contributed to your personal growth. Additionally, you may also comment on your experiences of being a part of the city of Austin. Wrap up your essay with your final thoughts on your overall experience at McCombs.

Optional Statement:

Please provide any additional information you believe is important and/ or address any areas of concern that will be beneficial to the Admissions Committee in considering your application (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, significant weaknesses in your application, or extenuating personal circumstances). (250 words)

An optional essay is an opportunity for you to give the Ad Com relevant information that you could not provide in other parts of your application other essays and résumé. For example, if you have a lower than average GMAT score, any grades below a C on your transcript, academic probation or a significant employment gap, you can explain in this essay. To provide context for a weakness in your profile, make sure your reason is genuine to convince the Admission committee that your low grades or employment gap occurred due to unforeseen circumstances beyond your control. Your response should be positive, straightforward, and fact-focused and should not sound like you are making excuses for a weakness in your profile.

Also, if you cannot get your recommendation letter from your current supervisor, please explain that in the optional statement. For more information on the choice of recommenders for your McCombs application, please visit admission blog. http://blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/mba-ins ... n-letters/

myEssayReview has helped many applicants get accepted into McCombs School of Business. You may email Poonam at poonam@myessayreview.com with questions about your application for McCombs School of Business.